Present day continuous casting facilities generally comprise two adjoining shops, one of which is known as a ladle shop and the other which is known as a casting shop. Each shop is provided with its own traveling crane, each operating along its own pair of tracks, with the pairs of tracks extending parallel to each other. The pairs of tracks are spaced apart slightly to permit each of the two cranes to travel independently within its own shop without interfering with the travel of the other within its shop. The two shops are separated from each other, not necessarily physically as by a barrier such as a wall, but functionally by a space between the pairs of crane tracks which define a separation zone between the shops. All of the functions of the ladle movement and handling are performed in the ladle shop by the ladle shop crane, while all the functions incident to the actual casting operation are performed in the casting shop by the casting shop crane.
Another commonly used design for continuous casting facilities involves the use of three adjoining shops. One of these shops is a furnace shop, the second is a hot metal handling shop and the third is a casting shop. Each of these shops is provided with its own traveling crane, each operating along its own pair of tracks, with the pairs of tracks extending parallel to each other. The pairs of tracks are spaced apart slightly to permit each of the three cranes to travel independently within its own shop without interfering with the travel of the other cranes. The three shops are separated from each other at least functionally by the space between the pairs of crane tracks which define separation zones between the shops.
Whether two shops or three shops are employed, cross transfer equipment is required to transport ladles containing hot metal from one shop to the next. A type of cross transfer equipment that is commonly used is a ladle rotator which consists of a ladle turret having a vertical shaft located between shops carrying two oppositely disposed arms pivotally mounted on the shaft with one arm extending into the ladle shop (two-shop facility) or the hot metal handling shop (three-shop facility) ready to receive a new full ladle, and the other arm extending into the casting shop to support a ladle in position for pouring into the tundish of the caster. When the ladle over the tundish is empty, the arms are rotated 180.degree. to bring a full ladle from the ladle shop or hot metal handling shop into the casting shop and to bring the empty ladle into the ladle shop or hot metal handling shop. Another type of cross-transfer equipment utilizes ladle-transfer cars which move, for example on rails, and transport full or empty ladles from one shop to the next.
The cranes and cross-transfer equipment utilized with present day continuous casting facilities generally are required to handle hot metal transfer ladles weighing in the range of about 200 to about 400 tons and, consequently, are by necessity massive structures that are costly to install, maintain and operate. It would be advantageous to reduce the number of cranes required for servicing a continuous casting facility and to minimize or eliminate the necessity of using cross-transfer equipment.